Yue's father reminded Percy of his own. You had to respect the man, whether you knew anything about him or not. He was an imposing figure, with the face of a patriarch. In control of the situation, but not cruel or malicious. He gave him a once-over, studying his form in the warm fur of the parka he'd been given to wear.

"Greetings, boy. I am Arnook, the chief of this tribe. What would you like me to call you?"

He tried to stand up for a proper greeting, but Yue pushed him back to the rug. "You are not fit enough to move right now. You must rest for now"

"Alright, alright, I won't," he placated the girl, "Call me Percy."

"Perr-see," Arnook tested the name on the name on his tongue, "I have to say, it does not sound like a common name. It is very different," he looked at him again, "Are you feeling well, boy? I would hope our hospitality was not found unsatisfying."

Percy groaned. "I'll live. My head hurts, but otherwise, I'm fine."

"Good. My daughter is a capable healer. You could never doubt her abilities when it comes to saving a life."

The sincerity in his words caused Yue's face alight with a bashful smile. "The recovery has been quicker than I expected it to be. He should have remained unconscious for another day with how he ended up here."

"A tough one, are you?" Arnook turned to Yue, "Daughter, could you leave me alone with him here. There are some things we must talk about."

She dipped her head in a curtsey. "As you wish, father," She gave him a reassuring smile before she headed out with barely noticeable footsteps.

"Can you tell me about yourself?" the man asked once Yue was gone, "It is not every day you find a young man like yourself dying in the water. Drowning was a possibility, but you seem to have gathered favour from the current."

Percy winced. "The last thing I remember is… I'm kind of confused right now, but I remember sleeping on my bed last. So… I have no idea how I ended up in the sea."

Arnook remained impassive. The silent stare of his dark eyes unnerved him. "Curious. You are an interesting boy. You are confused about how you got here… you have an unfamiliar name… and a sword of very unique design."

Sword?

"Where's my sword? You have my sword?"

"I can bring it to you if you want," Percy nodded, and Arnook sent word to bring the weapon to him. A boy carried it in, and Percy breathed heavily. It was his sword, the same leaf-shaped bronze weapon he'd wielded for four years without fail. Except that one time on Mount Tamalpais, but it didn't count. Riptide seemed to have lost its glow, looking more like a regular bronze - he squinted his eyes. The sword was not bronze, but steel.

"The design is not traditional to any of the nations. And the symbols etched into it equally so."

Percy took a minute to answer, "I'm…" he trailed off, unsure if the truth will actually satisfy, "I'm from an island. I can't explain because it's, uh, not that connected. I mean, I have no idea where or what the Northern Water Tribe is? Never heard of it before."

Arnook didn't look like he believed him, but he didn't press on the topic. "The craftsmanship looks remarkable, but I am not cultured enough to say much about swords. Who forged this one?"

Percy hesitated, but the answer was easy enough, "I don't know how it was forged. My dad gave it to me as a gift."

"As a gift, you say? Do your people have an appreciation for swordsmanship?"

Well, not exactly, but… "You can say that."

"And you can use it?"

"I know a thing or two."

"So… have you ever participated in war, Perr-cy?"

"Uh, well… I have."

"But would I be wrong to guess that you have not heard of the Hundred Years' War?"

Percy did not like where this was going. "You won't be wrong, yeah."

Arnook's face was hard, and the demigod was not liking his odds of winning a fight. looked like he was considering what to make of Percy. "You seem… truthful enough to me, boy. Consider yourself my guest for the time being. You do not like you're Fire Nation, otherwise I would have had you banished. Or if you did not accede, placed in the coldest prison the North could offer." The sternness of his eyes demanded that Percy not take his words lightly. "You may stay here to gather your bearings before you set off for home." Something seemed to strike the chief "If you could, that is. I suspect that you might have been kidnapped between your home and here. And going back would be… arduous journey."

"Yeah… that sounds like the kind of thing that would happen to me," Percy grumbled under his breath. Kidnapped might not be the wrong word here. Not at all.

Flowers spread all the way the eyes could see. Under the light of the stars, which shone as bright as the sun, the ground sparkled in all colours known. There in the beautiful night beside an apple tree, in a garden so familiar, stood a girl whose name he knew but couldn't bring to his tongue. She held a bow expertly in her hands, hands deftly playing with the string. She nocked an arrow, and set it to the sky. The stars now flickered a golden and silver, and soon the moon turned a bleeding red.

"Now that you're much better," Yue began, "I think it would be good for you to exert yourself a bit. Go out and see the city for yourself. It is one of a kind."

"If you say so. I think I'm finally getting the hang of lying around and being pampered all day," Percy replied. In truth, he had complained about all the fussing he'd received from the healer. Yue was, Percy decided, a kind and nurturing soul who was incapable of hurting by choice. She was the sort of girl who would fuss over anything and anyone if it was slightly hurt and refused to complain even once about any hard time she endured.

The princess giggled, "There would be plenty of time for pampering afterwards. Just go out to enjoy yourself. You won't be disappointed."

Agna Qel'a did not fail to impress Percy. It exceeded his expectations, and Yue had drilled into his head how amazing her city was, with no shortage of pride.

It was a city of ice. Purely ice. The walls were made of ice, the buildings were made of ice, and the platforms where men and women stood were made of ice.

And the ice was cut out with utmost grace and beauty that had him beguiled. On the overhead from the palace, he could see clearly that this was not in any way less than Olympus. It made a sight similar to that of Minas Tirith from that one movie about rings. The dim sun lit it up in gradients of blue and white, with the perfect blend of transparency and colour. The ever-alive water between the platforms only made it more of a spectacle for the son of the sea god. The cliffs that loomed over and the city were somewhat intimidating, but like everything only accentuated the otherwordly magic of this place. Never in his wildest dreams had Percy imagined something of this calibre.

He walked about at a leisurely pace. The exact cut of the buildings resembled the Greek style. People looked at him whenever they were close. Some suspicious, others welcoming and most in wonder. He figured this place didn't get many new people. Even people on the boats looked at him, and he looked back.

The gondolas and canals were like Venice was reputed to be, only much more magical.

"You want to go to Venice?" Annabeth asked incredulously.

"Well, why not?" he shrugged "I've heard Venice has some amazing architecture and history. That will be soo interesting"

She gave him a deadpan stare.

"And the whole city is full of water. You move using canals instead of cars. How cool is that? We can get ourselves a gondola, and I'll steer us while you tell me about the history of each and every building and street. It'll be the best history lesson I ever."

Annabeth snorted, "Sure. And you would forget everything I told you at the first stop we take, Seaweed Brain."

Percy only shot her a grin. "It will still be a fun trip. And maybe we'll eat some authentic Italian pizza too."

She rolled her beautiful grey eyes in the way she always did, but she was smiling, which was enough for him. The interested glint gave way to so much. So much their future together. So much so, he couldn't wait for the days to tick by, where his happiness lay…

Annabeth would have definitely loved this place… wherever it was. It was everything she liked. Unique, wonderous, beautiful and full of the world's most amazing architecture. She would give tooth and nail to understand how they made the whole thing. However given what Percy could see, it might not be easy to replicate.

It was still hard to come to terms with how this place worked. In theory, this was exactly the sort of place Percy would want to spend his life. There was water everywhere. Water that people seemed to control with relative ease. Or at least controlling water was commonplace enough to not be the odd one out.

No firearms - People used spears, swords and other classical weapons, and there was no modern tech that Percy wouldn't be able to use. He would fit right in.

But he couldn't put his heart into it.

Percy hadn't fought four years of war to be here. He wanted to be with those he fought for - his friends, Paul, mom, Annabeth. Not here. He didn't want to retire in a different world. Especially if he was going to be alone.

There had to be a way back.

He stared out absentmindedly over the horizon, the icy cliffs stretching all the way back to the mouth, boxing in the city from the rest of the world. Yue told him that her tribe had isolated itself behind the cliffs. And what was surprising was that the cliffs were actually walls constructed by the tribesmen long ago when "The War" had begun. It was impressive, he had to admit.

Percy decided to play around with the water by the shore. He tried to move it, but there was no tug in his gut.

His mother smiled at him warmly, stretching out her arms to bring him into a hug.

There was no tug in his gut, and no body of water lifted to his tried again.

Annabeth laughed, that endearing laugh he always strived to see.

Same result. He wasn't terrified. He wasn't horrified. He was just numb.

Maybe he wouldn't fit in as well as he thought he would.

This was a bad prank, Hermes. A really bad prank.

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